Drip IV director Kristie Baird marries overseas amid alleged debt scandal
The Drip IV Australia saga continues to unfold amid alleged debt scandal. SEE THE VIDEO
Gold Coast
Don't miss out on the headlines from Gold Coast. Followed categories will be added to My News.
The operator of Drip IV Australia which collapsed allegedly owing thousands in unpaid wages to staff has married in New Zealand at the weekend infuriating staff owed money.
Staff are seeing red over images and video showing Drip IV Australia operator Kristie Baird’s nuptials at a ceremony in Taupo.
“We’re living off beans still unpaid while she’s overseas spending money on a wedding?” one employee said.
“Meanwhile a lot of us have struggled to make ends meet.”
The employee revealed she could not afford to send her kids to school with book packs in late January due to the alleged unpaid wages.
“I let her know that. We were struggling to pay for groceries, we’ve had to borrow money, we’ve had to take out loans, I’ve had to contact my superannuation company to see if I could get some money out, remittance notices – everything has come because she screwed us over,” she claimed.
“She’s left us in the ashes and used us for what we’re worth.”
The overseas wedding comes just days after Ms Baird listed two dozen luxury items on Facebook Marketplace, including a $119,000 Range Rover Sport as she battles two court cases and employee claims of unpaid wages and super.
The award-winning businesswoman was ordered to appear in the District Court in Brisbane on March 12 for an “enforcement hearing” relating to an alleged debt of $154,385 to an Adelaide based medical supplier.
The order came days before the Deputy Commissioner of Taxation filed a claim in the same court seeking payment of $420,880 for alleged unpaid tax in relation to Drip IV.
It was revealed earlier this month Drip IV – a mobile intravenous vitamin infusion company – went into receivership on January 30 over an unpaid loan agreement with small business lender Bizcap.
Staff are claiming tens of thousands in unpaid wages. The Gold Coast Public Health Unit last week also confirmed in February 2022 it seized documents and medicine under the Medicines and Poisons Act from Drip IV Australia’s Burleigh head office, but would not reveal the findings of the now-closed investigation.
Drip IV Australia, responding to allegations earlier this month of unpaid wages is rejecting all claims as false and damaging and said in future it would address all the claims once legal action was complete.
Employees are hopeful Ms Baird returns to Australia.
“She needs to come back and face up to the music. We are just ordinary people trying to make a living, provide for our children, pay our mortgages, pay our rent. She overstretched herself,” an employee said.
More Coverage
Originally published as Drip IV director Kristie Baird marries overseas amid alleged debt scandal
Beach bars: the devil is in the detail
Before giving the green light to beach bars on our public beaches our Council needs to consider their decision very carefully and address all of the issues that a determination of this nature presents, writes former Currumbin MP Jann Stuckey.
Gold Coast escort reveals: ‘Why your husbands pay me for sex’
A Gold Coast escort who rakes in $2 million a year has revealed the top five reasons married men are paying her for sex.